Review Summary

Everybody knows who Pierre Rissient is, but nobody knows what he does. Such is the opening premise of “Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema,” a documentary that sets out to establish its subject as one of the seminal tastemakers of contemporary movies. “Everybody,” in this case, means the filmmakers, critics, festival programmers and others who make up the international cine intelligentsia, members of that rarefied tribe who invariably bump into Mr. Rissient at the Cannes Film Festival, where he presides as a powerful behind-the-scenes presence. Artists as diverse as Jane Campion, King Hu, Joseph Losey, Hou Hsiao-hsien and even Clint Eastwood owe their critical esteem in part to Mr. Rissient’s advocacy. — Nathan Lee